The disclosed subject matter relates to the field of graphic processing. More specifically, but not by way of limitation, the disclosed subject matter relates to proactively powering-up graphics processing unit (GPU) hardware in order to expedite executing of the graphics commands.
Computers and other computational devices typically have at least one programmable processing element that is generally known as a central processing unit (CPU). They frequently also have other programmable processors that are used for specialized processing of various types, such as graphic processing operations which may be performed by graphic processing units (GPUs). GPUs generally comprise multiple cores or processing elements designed for executing the same instruction on parallel data streams, making GPUs more effective than general-purpose CPUs for algorithms in which processing of large blocks of data is done in parallel. In general, a CPU functions as the host and hands-off specialized parallel tasks to the GPUs.
In order for a frame to be rendered on a display, the GPU and the CPU must work together. The number of frames displayed per second (FPS) is referred to as a frame rate. At lower frame rates, the human eyes can distinguish still frames displayed in rapid succession. However, at higher frame rates, individual frames are not perceptible to a human and instead appear as seamless motion. Therefore, everything else being equal (e.g. resolution), a display with a higher frame rate provides a higher graphic quality.
Sometimes the actual frequency by which a display is updated is capped by the display's refresh rate. The refresh rate is the number of times the display can be redrawn in a second. Vertical Synchronization (Vsync) is used to synchronize the refresh rate of a display with the frame rate. To take full advantage of a display's high refresh rate, the frame rate provided by the GPU and CPU must be as high as the display's refresh rate permits. Otherwise, the display may be forced to render the same frame during multiple refresh periods, which may be perceived by a human as lower quality video.